“İMECE” means Collaboration, supporting each other, team-work,  sharing & caring…Just like the “İmece of CMS, Lucknow, India & KALBE MER, Istanbul, Türkiye” Just like what we do here, in Istanbul with all the Dost countries…

  TRAINING TOTAL QUALITY PERSONS THROUGH;
“PEACE AT HOME, PEACE IN THE WORLD”.   (M.K.ATATÜRK)      

DEAR COLLEAGUES,
As being the Turkey Director General of the World Council for Total Quality & Excellence in Education (WCTQEE) I feel immense happiness. For, Türkiye has been given the honor of hosting the “11^th International Convention on Students’ Quality Control (İmece) Circles (ICSQCC’2008” which will be organized and hosted by the Turkish Centre for Schools of Quality & Quality and Peace Education Center (KALBE MER) and The Association for Continuous Improvement (Sü Ge Der). As being the Turkish representative of the International Center for Schools of Quality, I have been leading the Turkish educators, students and also parents on the way of attaining and sustaining higher quality levels at education. In various times, through the collaboration (İmece) with different parties, such as; the Ministry of National Education, Educational Faculties of some Turkish Universities and some contemporary Non-Governmental Organization (NGOs); more than twenty five thousands of education people (principals, teachers, parents and students) have been trained about the principles and methods of “Total Quality in Education”. The number of Students’ İmece Circles, starting from the year of 2000, has reached at the number of 1000 which means nearly ten thousand teachers and students. In 2001, ICT Projects started and in 2003 it turned into an international Project Competition. The same year, our efforts were shared at the “6^th ICSQCC in Lucknow, India” for the first time, and I was honored as the Director General of Turkey within the World Council for Total Quality & Excellence in Education (WCTQEE).

In 2004, all the projects of İmece Circles took place within my book, named: “İmece Circles for the Unity in the Schools and at the classrooms”. In 2005, my “İmece Circles Project for the Turkish Schools” was awarded by the World Bank within the “2005’ Creative Ideas Competition for the Improvement of Turkey”. My project took place among the first best 22 projects out of 739.

Now, not only in Türkiye, but in many countries of the world, a Turkish word_İMECE_ has been known as a good model of Students’ Quality Control Circles. We localized the concept to the Turkish culture and internalized it as a continuity of Atatürk’s principles based upon the “Active Learning” philosophy of “Village Institutions”. That’s why, “İmece Circle” is so important for us. It is a sign of the revolutionary spirit. It is a sign of being sons and daughters of the great leader Atatürk: Thinking laterally, collaborating friendly, being timely, solving the problems bravely, leading youngsters contemporarily and scientifically, sharing boldly and technologically. The “İmece Circles” method is also used at my University Courses to teach it to the future teachers.    

The 10^th Convention was organized by City Montessori School & Degree College, Lucknow in collaboration with Quality Circle Forum of India and QCI International, USA in Lucknow, India. It was a great success. We hope that the 11th Convention will also serve as one of the lighthouses of Quality in the world and host the “Students’ İmece (Quality Control) Circles” of many countries, and will have the honor of welcoming World Quality Experts & Director Generals of WCTQEE.

The event will take place on 26-28 August, 2008 on Yeditepe University’s Kayışdağı Campus in Istanbul. All the circles who participate in the Convention will demonstrate their “problem-solving based” projects as “case studies”, “skits/dramas”, “debate”, “collage and poster competition” Streams. Teachers and principals will share their unique experiences as “paper presentations” and world-wide experts will conduct interactive workshops about different fields concerning the education of the future “Total Quality Persons (TQPs)”. Experts and students will mingle with each other on the same venue to learn from each other. Bringing “theory and practice together” will be the key of our educational problems. With this Convention, I believe, a new white, blank page will open before the educational world. İmece, i.e., collaboration will bring in peace and happiness to all of us. A cultural Dance activity from each participating country will also tie all the nations together at the Grand Finale. This will be, as easily seen, a good example of İMECE which is the essence of the Anatolian Culture. The same philosophy had also been seen at the “Village Institutions” which were created by Atatürk and his experts towards the end of 1930s as the “educational monument” of the Enlightenment Period of Atatürk in order to bring the Turkish villagers to the levels of contemporary civilizations. However; they lived only for a very short time. If I were you, I would try to learn more about those schools. For their graduates were the real TQPs of my country for a long time. I hope I have created a great interest in your minds and in your hearts towards those schools. We are looking forward to seeing you here.

With my best regards on the way of attaining love and peace and training TQPs.

Dr. Hayal KÖKSAL
General Director, WCTQEE
President, KALBE MER
Director, TURKISH CENTER for SCHOOLS of QUALITY

MESSAGE FROM JAGDISH GANDHI, FOUNDER MANAGER, CITY MONTESSORI SCHOOL, LUCKNOW, INDIA &THE PRESIDENT OF THE WORLD COUNCIL FOR TOTAL QUALITY & EXCELLENCE IN EDUCATION (WCTQEE)

 JAGDISH GANDHI

In the first place I would like to compliment Dr. Hayal Koksal for organising the 11th ICSQCC for the first time in Turkey. This is exclusively the personal effort of Turkey’s esteemed educationist, Dr. Hayal Koksal, for whom education is the life and breath. Due to her dedication to the cause of education Turkey has achieved great progress in the field. This is a most heartening development for Turkey.

 The 11th ICSQCC will promote quality education in schools, colleges and universities of Turkey. This is an admirable effort. The ICSQCC will certainly generate enthusiasm among the educationists and teachers of Turkey to keep on improving educational standards throughout the width and breadth of the country. We all know that the demands of quality are increasing day by day to cope with advancement and researches in different disciplines and subjects taught in the educational institutions. Every year the curriculum is changing to incorporate the latest developments as a result of discoveries or inventions. The scope of education has undoubtedly become unmanageable unless well thought out systems are evolved to keep pace with the ongoing changes. ICSQCC will certainly help in giving proper direction to evolution of requisite systems.

 The teachers and the educationists realize the difficulties in educating children because of the volume of the syllabus. But the fact is that the educational institutions have to follow it, come what it may. In such a situation the teaching circles must seek the cooperation of the students. The students can play an important role in helping themselves through mutual discussions or consultations. It is known fact that a teacher cannot explain everything of the lesson within the available time of class allotted to her/ him. It is here that students can divide themselves in groups to consult each other in understanding a lesson in the context of the guidelines of the teacher.

 Mutual consultations or discussions are very helpful in understanding the subject. This must become a regular habit of the students. Besides understanding the subject with each other’s help such consultations or discussions will also promote cordiality and friendship among them, which will be yet another gain of this practice. We know very well how the Japanese industry achieved excellence and this can also be done at school level. ICSQCC will be an occasion of coming for achieving excellence in education. Every student will be inspired to devote quality time to learning and for acquiring knowledge of high order. Similarly every teacher will feel inspired to improve the quality of teaching. An atmosphere of quality will prevail. Every one will seek quality and try to make determined efforts to achieve quality in one’s field.

The primary responsibility of promoting continuous quality in education rests on the teachers and the students. Therefore, the focus of ICSQCC will be these target groups. I am confident that an accomplished educationist and a highly competent teacher like Dr. Hayal Koksal is fully capable of giving proper direction to quality education in Turkey in the context of the prevailing demands. I am sure the 11th ICSQCC will be a great event in Turkey. I wish the convention a great success!

Jagdish Gandhi President, WCTQEE
Website: www.cmseducation.org; www.jagdishgandhi.org